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	Name:	Talullahhound -
	Subject:	Partially True
	Date:	11/2/2008 2:46:35 PM

I would also say that the vast number of the Middle East population has never been to the US -- they only know what they have seen in movies or been told. That is one of the things that our military-to-military relationships do -- they allow foreigners to come to our country to live here while they attend military courses, and they get a chance to see what the US is about. Unfortunately, these people are not the poorest of the poor who have been indoctrinated in the extremist retoric.

On a trip to Pakistan one time, I had an PK Army major show up at my hotel (this was a huge no-no for him and he could have gotten in a lot of trouble had I made an issue) to beg me to sponsor him to go to the US. I asked him what he thought he would do for a living once he got here. He told me that he thought he would work in a factory and make a lot of money.

I have found that in the more restrictive societies in the Middle East, the men are very curious about Western women. During breaks in meetings, they would always want to talk to me and ask me questions -- a lot of them about my husband "letting" me work and travel. In Saudi, the Embassy would have to prepare a letter for me to present at hotels I stayed in that said that I had my husband's permission to stay there. The other thing that would drive me crazy was having them stare at me. They don't usually see women traveling alone. I once was in a meeting with a Pakistani General and when his office boy brought in the tea, he dropped the tray because he had never seen a Western woman in person before.

When I was working, I was involved in the hosting of two delegations from Africa -- one from Angola and one was the first official military delegation from South Africa. They had all kinds of pre-conceived notions about the US from their years of alliance with the Russians. These were some pretty senior people, yet, most of them had never been to the US or Europe and a lot of them came up through the ranks as bush fighters. They thought that everyone in the US would try to tell them how to conduct their affairs, and that we all lived in McMansions. I think they thought that the Secretary of Defense was actually the Devil, and that we would embarass them and treat them like dirt. I think we changed some minds that trip -- and they loved Walmart. Actually, all of the foreigners from Africa, and the Middle and Near East I've dealt with love Walmart and always want to shop there.

There is a lot of ignorance about the US. And I'm sorry to say that I think there is a lot of ignorance here about them. Neither of us is as bad as the other thinks.